M:I ONE OF TEN BEST "PURE HOLLYWOOD ACTION" MOVIESPLUS: A YOUNG ADULT PARANORMAL THRILLER HAS DE PALMA POTENTIALSimon Brew at Den Of Geek has thought long and hard about it, and has now posted his list of "The 12 best pure Hollywood action movies of the 1990s." At number 10 is Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible, which Brew feels is De Palma's "last great movie." While I find the film brilliant, De Palma has actually made even better films since then, but here is what Brew writes about Mission: Impossible:

Mission: Impossible is a tight, taut action thriller, featuring some terrific set piece sequences (the kind that De Palma continually excels at).

It's also got a terrific cast, and one that Tom Cruise is happy to sit more as an ensemble member of (unlike, say, Mission: Impossible III). For while he's front and centre of the film for good chunks, just look at the memorable names around him. Vanessa Redgrave eats up the screen as Max, while the likes of Jean Reno, Jon Voight, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Beart and Ving Rhames are each good value, too. It'd be remiss not to mention David Schneider popping up right at the end, too.

But the thing we most take away from Mission: Impossible are wonderfully set-up action moments. De Palma knows how to wring maximum tension out of these, and it's his discipline in putting these sequences together that was sorely missed in the overblown first sequel. Furthermore, Mission: Impossible also benefits from a lean running time, meaning you're not left focussing too heavily on the occasionally over-wrought plot that the MI team are trying to uncover. Instead, you're just left to enjoy one of the very best action thrillers of the 90s.

YOUNG ADULT FILM FRANCHISE SOUNDS LIKE A MATCH FOR DE PALMAWhile we're on the subject of kicking off franchises with a bang, The Hollywood Reporter's Jay A. Fernandez reported yesterday that Paramount and MTV Films will adapt the best-selling young adult paranormal thriller novel Wake. According to Fernandez, "Wake is the first of three novels written by [Lisa] McMann about a 17-year-old girl named Janie with the unwanted ability to become sucked into people’s dreams. Not surprisingly, she sees things she would rather not see. But when she gets pulled into a terrible nightmare, Janie dangerously goes from mere witness to participant." The script is being written by Christopher Landon, who co-wrote the Rear Window-esque Disturbia. This sounds like a project that would have huge potential for someone like Brian De Palma. I almost forgot to mention: Miley Cyrus is being talked about for the lead, but she wants to see the script first. I also forgot to mention: Paranormal Activity 2 producers Steven Schneider and Jason Blum are involved in this project, as well.

TOM CRUISE ASKS FANS:WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO DIRECT MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE IV?Tom Cruise is asking fans to name their "dream director" for Mission: Impossible IV, the franchise that Brian De Palma got off to a bang as director of the first installment. Cruise's official blog post states that a director has not yet been chosen, and then runs down the list of directors who helmed the first three films. The little bio for De Palma goes like this:

Known for his psychological thrillers like Carrie and Dressed to Kill, as well as graphic violence in gangster films like Scarface, The Untouchables, and Carlito’s Way, De Palma is often considered to be a member of “New Hollywood” generation of directors along with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola. In Mission: Impossible, De Palma made sure to kick off the franchise with lots of over-the-top action and explosions, including helicopters flying in train tunnels and a restaurant fish tank explosion.

PETER GRAVES DIESAND SOME STILL BITTER ABOUT M:I LEADER-BECOMES-TRAITOR TWISTPeter Graves, the actor who became famous for his role as Jim Phelps, leader of the Impossible Missions Force on the Mission: Impossible TV series, passed away over the weekend. He was 83. The tributes are proliferating over the web, and some are still bitter about the big twist in Brian De Palma's film adaptation of Mission: Impossible that turned the "heroic" Phelps into a traitor, embittered by the end of the cold war and the subsequent diminishing of his own power and status. Driven by greed, Phelps sells out his fellow spies and, as leader, directs many on his very own team to their own deaths. Nick Leshi at The Man Behind The Curtain calls De Palma's film a "travesty" because of the Phelps turn, calling it "a slap in the face." Yes it was a slap in the face, and it was meant to be. This kind of treason happens in the real world, and here was a great opportunity to take a character whose work is based on deception, and to show that the world he lives in is not as cut and dry as the old TV series might have us believe. These are spies, through and through. John Woo even toyed with the idea of an evil Ethan Hunt in his sequel to De Palma's film (the villain of that film wears a mask to look like the Tom Cruise character). Mitchell Hadley feels that Graves was right to turn down the role in De Palma's film, writing, "You know, just as fans of the show know, that Jim Phelps would never betray his country. Sure, Jon Voight, who winds up playing the role in the movie, is a good actor, as well as a good patriot in real life. But he’s no Jim Phelps, and both you and everyone else knows it." Voight was a great choice for the role, but Graves really should have taken it (if he was actaully ever asked to)-- it would have been fantastic.

DE PALMA FILM ON WORLD'S BIGGEST MOVIE SCREENOUTDOOR DRIVE-IN SCREENING OF MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE TO BREAK WORLD RECORD

Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible will play on the world's biggest movie screen tonight at England's Pinewood Studios, where parts of the film were shot. De Palma's film will kick off a winter series of drive-in screenings that includes Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Full Metal Jacket, among others. The studio's water filming facility is being "temporarily transformed into the world's largest cinema screen," according to the press release, which continues:

The largest movie screenings ever recorded have been to mass audiences in Norway and Japan. In 1996 the Oslo Spektrum’s 70mm film screening of Independence Day measured 40.24m in width, and in 2008 the Tokyo Dome played host to a 37m wide IMAX premiere of Speed Racer. Pinewood aims to break the existing world record for the largest ever movie projection with its outdoor drive-in screening of Mission: Impossible this Saturday 7th November.

Managing the projection of Pinewood’s Drive-In, QED Productions Director Paul Wigfield says "We’re projecting onto the world’s largest screen at Pinewood, so it’s a fantastic opportunity for QED to demonstrate the very latest projection technology from Christie, the world leaders in digital cinema. Mission: Impossible seems the perfect choice to beat the existing world record and it will look absolutely sensational."

GRAVES SEEKS IMPOSSIBLE ROLEABRAMS CONTEMPLATES NIMOY FOR 4TH FILMAccording to Sci-Fi Blast, J.J. Abrams spoke at a press conference for the DVD release of his Star Trek film last week. The blog quotes Abrams, who directed the third Mission: Impossible film, and who is currently producing a fourth installment, as being shocked to learn that the TV series' original Jim Phelps, Peter Graves, is interested in a part in the new film. "I just got a call that Peter Graves is in great shape, which would be a very bizarre bend in the space-time continuum, for obvious reasons."

Jon Voight played Phelps in the first film, which was directed by Brian De Palma. Phelps was, of course, killed in that film, so bringing Graves into the picture would/could be a tricky move in a franchise known for its tricks. As Sci-Fi Blast points out, Graves has since created a more recent comedic legacy via his role as Captain Oveur in the Airplane film series. "I almost feel like you could make him serious again and bring him back," Abrams is quoted as saying. Abrams also mentioned the possibility of bringing back Leonard Nimoy, who joined the TV show in its fourth season. Abrams, who had cast Nimoy as Spock in his Star Trek film, reportedly said, "Whether it's Nimoy, who I have an incredible affinity for, or Graves, or anyone, we'll see."

Abrams also revealed that for the third film, he had wanted to cast Martin Landau, who was the TV show's original master of disguises. "I actually tried to get Martin Landau in Mission 3, in a very small little moment just for fun, and was told that he had no interest in doing it," Abrams said, according to Sci-Fi Blast. "But then, when I met him after the movie came out, it was the greatest thing. We were at this restaurant in New York, for one of the TV up-front parties, and someone introduced me to Landau. They took me over and Martin Landau came over to me, extended his hand and [pretended to lift his face off]. That was the greatest thing I'd ever seen."

MI4 SCREENPLAY COOKINGABRAMS CREATED STORY WITH PALS APPLEBAUM & NEMECAccording to Variety's Michael Fleming yesterday, two screenwriters have been hired by Paramount to write the screenplay for Mission: Impossible 4, which will definitely feature Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt as a character. The two screenwriters, Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec, have worked with J.J. Abrams as co-executive producers on Abrams' TV show Alias. Mission: Impossible 4 will be co-produced by Cruise and Abrams. The screenplay will be based on a story that Abrams, Applebaum, and Nemec all came up with together. No director has yet been mentioned or hired, as it looks like Abrams will act as a producer (and story writer) for this project. Abrams told Fleming, "I've been looking forward to working with Josh and Andre again for years. Their sense of balance between character and action is wonderful, which I know is hugely important to Tom as well. We're off to an exciting start, so, as usual, fingers crossed." Paramount is planning to release the film in 2011.

FOURTH MISSION DEVELOPINGABRAMS INVITED TO PRODUCE WITH CRUISEAccording to a blurb in the latest issue of Tv Guide, Tom Cruise has invited J.J. Abrams, who directed MI:3, to produce a fourth feature film in the Mission: Impossible franchise. You can read the entire blurb at left, but Abrams says that he and Cruise have a "really cool idea" for a new film, which may have a new director, unless Abrams decides to stay on and direct again. Cruise is smart to stick with Abrams for such a project, given that Abrams is currently on a high with Paramount, the studio for which he just made the Star Trek movie, which is a big hit. Paramount, of course, owns the rights to the Mission: Impossible franchise.

M:I AT MONTREAL FESTAS DE PALMA PREPARES MASTER CLASSWhile there is still no official word on the exact time of Brian De Palma's master class, the Montreal World Film Festival will screen De Palma's 1996 film Mission: Impossible Tuesday night as part of its "Cinema Under The Stars" program. We'll keep an eye out for any other news...